Lawsuit alleges Janet Napolitano sexism

The top immigration official in New York City has filed a lawsuit accusing Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano of allowing a female friend who worked at the department to humiliate and mistreat male employees, and alleges the secretary passed over a veteran male agent in favor of promoting a woman.

The lawsuit, which was filed in Washington federal court, came to the fore Friday with reports in both New York tabloids -- the Post and the Daily News. It was first reported Wednesday afternoon by Debbie Schlussel, a conservative blogger who has appeared on Fox News' "The O'Reilly Factor" and has written for the Post's op-ed page.

The suit, by James Hayes, a special agent in charge of New York City investigations for Immigration and Customs Enforcement federal court accuses Suzanne Barr, ICE's chief of staff, of regularly harassing male employees. Barr was Napolitano's chief of staff when the latter was governor of Arizona.

The lawsuit accuses Barr of calling a male ICE agent into her hotel room and asking to have oral sex with him, and says Barr once stole another male ICE official's BlackBerry and sent a message to his female superior indicating the agent was attracted to his boss. It also says Barr relocated three male agents' desks to the men's bathroom at ICE headquarters.

According to the Post and Daily News, Hayes' suit accuses Napolitano of freezing him out in favor of Dora Schriro,who is now the head of New York City's Department of Corrections and previously led corrections departments in Arizona and Missouri. Before he took over in New York, Hayes was the director of ICE's detention and removal operations. Schriro was brought in as a special adviser to Napolitano on those topics, and began replacing Hayes in meetings, according to the lawsuit. The lawsuit says Schriro is a close friend of Napolitano's.

"ICE doesn't comment on unfounded claims and will respond to Mr. Hayes's allegations as appropriate through the judicial system," ICE spokesman Brian Hale said in a statement.